cm- 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULIUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



( December %, 186S. 



13. v4mnro«.^^ large light Tose-rariety, not to be XionfouUcled 

 vitb an older Amazca. A preti; floworl 



BECK. ' 



ti. Astarfr.—\ prettv blush •.tfotfei'.'with'piiijrsttpl;' large 

 Moteh in upper petiJs. ■ = rj;...v/. t. jM.f: ,. T^.-j.iw 



15. J/f«/ Fon.tiixa. — In the strle of .4!Ha Ecgina. 'Vt^'piiare' 

 "•lite, purplish Crimson spot. A well-sbaped flower. ' ' • ' 



1(>. I{,:arUeasr. — WTiite, purplish spot on aB the petals. '■ ' 



17. Bitse Split. — Pretty colour. Bright rose, rose spot. 



18. Antonina. — Purplish crimson, irhite throat; petals 

 aarrov.'. '■ '^~-'/- *".''■," , ' ---■-'-'>-.-. ■ .'■ 



19. Piih-hfmuw. — Som'^lKiri^ ii <he way bf Be<fti's Sector, 

 Isi BO improvement. ■! -" ■,..r:. : ;:_ :• , :..! 



20. Exiullnif. — Bright crimsoD.witfi very flarisptj^. 



It is but fair to say that I receivea the plants of Mr. Beck's 

 ■varieties very late, and consequently had no opportnnitv of 

 seeing them at their best. I believe "the flowers may be placed 

 thus — John Hoyle, JIary Hoyle. British Sailor. Sunnv ilemo- 

 lies. Pretty Maiy, High Admiral. Asiartei Albe. Formosa. The 

 •alhers I consider inferior.— p^^ ^f<;[|,^ 



TP.OflCittJFBt'iT.S. 



The papers on tropical fruits by " J. H.," iuduceme to offer 

 the following j-emaika. Laving spent some time in the tropics 

 «f both the New and Old World, and being well acijuaictej 

 ■«ith their fruits from the srateful Gaicinia mangobtana. of 

 Java, to the stiniing Dnrio zibethinus. The latter iruit can 

 never become a favourite in this country. It is certainly ver^- 

 aijreeable in flavour, bnt the povf erful disagreeablfi odour wheii 

 ijpe, like tisat of Onions in the last state of decomposition, and 

 vHbich is also imparted to the breatji of those who cat the fruit, 

 xsakes them as disagreeable to come neir as those who have 

 iirten hursetlesh. The Dnrion in India more frequently attains 

 the heigjt of C<> than .30 feet, as stated hy "J. H.,' and has a, 

 ti-em the aizs sf that of an ordinary Oai, I was not aware that 

 it bad fruifsd in this country, and I would go a. oonhiderablB 

 distance to see iJ. ; Peihapsl'': J. H.7; isanki. saji vhere-itiis to 

 Iwseen. '■:-:;■■■[. -il, 'v .i< ^,,;... : a',);,, • vj-.;, ,;,,.,; ...j, ;,, 



With respeei to Anona sqiinriiosn. the Scaly Sweet-Sap of 

 Sonth America, it is certainly very good. The tree attains a 

 height of from ITj to 2U feet in Biazil, while A. muricata, or the 

 honr-Sop, only attains a height of 10 feet. A. eherimolia, or as 

 it is somotiiaacs called, A. tripetala. is one of the best, but I am 

 not aware of its having fruited in this countiy. There are five 

 or six otlier species of Anona cultivated for their fruit;:., i J , 



The Mangifera indica, or Mango, is. perhaps, as much 

 esteemed as any fruit in the tropic?. It varies as much theie 

 »s the Apple does with us; some kinds Luiug much like a very 

 fine Aprieot, and others, the majority ,':Ul£e. a mixture of tur- 

 pynfine and honey. ' • ,j , 



The (iarcinia mangostona is certainly one of the most de- 

 licious fruits gro-wn, but you must go to Java to eat it in per- 

 fection. Even at Calcutta it will not succeed ; the supply 

 coming from the Straits. Thia is easily accoimted for: Thetcm- 

 perature of .T.-iva, Sumatra, and other neighbouring islands, 

 ranges from 82' to 85" by day, and falls to 70° by night ; while 

 that of Cttlcnttn. in March and June, ranges from 75' to 110° 

 in-tbediy. and during the nights of December, ice is frequently 

 formed. Maoh noise was made some time back, when the tree 

 »t Sion House p^roduced thi-ee or four fnut. I may be wrong, 

 but I nl'.rays looked upon that fruitfulness as accidental, and 

 not obtained by superior cultivation ; or why has it not fruited 

 since? Being well acquainted with its culture, I was only sur- 

 prised that it ever fruited at all, as its treatmentwas very HiU 

 ferent to what it would have received in Java. I have seen 

 the Mang.->steen fruit freely in Brazil, but the fruit there wiU 

 bear nf) comparison with that produced in Java. 



I well remember some years ago meeting a party of Em-opeans 

 at the table of the British Consul at St. Salvador, on which 

 occasion twenty-seven varieties of tropical fruits were served 

 afdessert, all of which were new to the party, except the Pine 

 and Orange. Various opinions were expressed as to the various 

 merits of the fruits. The Mnsaa were pronounced soapy; the 

 Mangos smacked too much of tiirpentine ; Sour-Sop too acid ; 

 Mimusops dissecta .ind Elengi, good; C'brysophyllian cainito, 

 letter ; tbe Navel Oracle the best frrat on the table ; and then 

 the Pines, a variety called .^bochiehis, very £ne. By-the-by 

 Ibis is the only Pine admitted to the myal fable, and the best I 

 «?ier ate. Beautiful aR this dessert appeared on the table,^ there 

 Tsas a want created by the absence of Grapes, Peaches, and 



Strawberries. Psidium Eaddii T\-as very good, ami the stinking 

 Durion was placed in the verandah for those who hked to try it. 

 While on the present subject, may I ask if Lucuma deliciosa 

 has fruited in this country? I ate it in perfection in Chili, 

 though it is not a native of that country. I may return to this 

 subject at some future day.-r-}i.U)i.ii, Pcterhurmigh. 



f We enclosed the preceding letter to " J. H.,'' and the follow-*, 

 ing are extracts from his reply : — 



" I would give the address ' BiDnn ' requires in his private 

 note, and also I should much like to know him, as his remarks 

 are, many of them, much in accordance with my own. W^ith 

 regard, however, to the Durion, I think he rather exaggerates 

 the odour, which, although verj- revolting, is, wheu the fi-uit is 

 constantly kept wet during ripening not quite so bad. I have 

 detected a slight oniony smell, but as I never had the plea- 

 sure of smelling anybody's breath directly after he had eaten 

 •horseflesh.' I am unable to say whether I think the odour 

 similar to that. I have an uncle who for some years took much 

 intflrest, while he was in Madras, in growing this fruit, and 

 from whom I had originally sent some small trees of this sort, 

 but he has often told me that if the fruit is kept moist whilst 

 ripening, the scent is far less; and a friend of mine who grew 

 the tree, and (mce fruited it in England, found the B.ame. 

 Again; varieties differ mtich, some being less oflensive than 

 others. I am not sav-ing that the fruit does not stink, for it 

 docs'; bnt this evil may, I am certain, be much lessened, and 

 I believe if grown ittbarj hothouses its smell is never so stttoig: 

 as it is abroad. ' I '•■'■' ■■ ' • i. . . , ■ 



"I perfectly agree in 'w^at 'Eadcii' says (by the -way is 

 ' Eijimi ' the name of n plant, for if so I should much like some 

 cuttings?) about the Mangosteen, and he has hit the vital 

 point I am certain about the temperature. I found that to my 

 cost. I feel sure, also, that he is right about the Sion House 

 plant. I firmly believe it fruited 'by accident,' or why, as 

 he say&, 'has it not fruited again?' I have a letter before 

 me from Mr. Smith, some time gardener there, and who was 

 ah nuder garfener there when this tree fruited. He seems 

 to think the trees very bad now, and they never fruited or 

 flowei-ed before or sincd; arid hevet "will, mark my words, as 

 they are kept now. ' ' 



"What Pine is it with the unpronounceable name, that is 

 ' always used at the rev-al table ' in Brazil ? Can we obtain it? 



"In conclusion, would your correspondent kindly give me a 

 description of the Lucuma deliciosa. and any other unknown 

 fiuit? I sliould really esteem it an immense favour, as I take 

 so- much interest in the subject; and I am so thankful for in- 

 formation. — J. H." 



There is no spedes known to botanists, we think, as Lucuma 

 deliciosa. Our correspondent probably refers to L. mammoea, 

 or Teated Mammee Sapota. a native of South America, and 

 the West India Islands. It is sometimes called the "Ame- 

 ricatj Marmalade," the soft pulp of its fruit, of a russet colourt 

 is delicious, andfilpt unlike the marmalade of Qoinoes.] 



S03IETHING ABOUT ROSES. 



Oi;i: late lamented friend Donald Beaton (for though I never 

 saw him in my life, yet his writings in yoiu Journal must 

 have made bim so famihar to thousands of lovers of horti- 

 culture, that many who never saw him came to regard him as 

 an old fiiend, now gone to his rest)— our late friend, then, was 

 frequently saying that the queen of flowers, the Eose, never 

 chd so weU as on its own roots : that, in fact, no kind of stock 

 was so suitable for or so worthy of bearing tliis regal beauty 

 amongst flowers. Kow, I do not feel at all able to decide this 

 knotty point. 'Where doctors differ I cannot undertake to pro- 

 nounce a verdict that shall be decisive and satisfactory. I am 

 growing some two hundred or more Parses in almost every 

 form, on briars, on Manetti, on their own roots, double budded, 

 and not budded at all, and after two or three years' more 

 experience I hope I may be able to decide, at least in what 

 form they are best adapted to my own soil and locality ; but, 

 for the present, I wish to take it fur granted that in some soils 

 certain Eoses will do bitter on their own roots than in any 

 other way. 



I have also read lately an observation by an experienced 

 rosarian that a Ecse propagated from a bud (I mean to grow 

 on its own roots) is far superior to one of the same kind pro- 

 pagated from a cutting. Xow, I do not know how it may be 

 with other amateurs, but I find the striking of Eoses, or at 

 least of the Hybrid Perpetuals, difficult and disappointing. 



